Posted by Audrey Johnston on Nov 18, 2017 in Budget, Resources | 0 comments
Friday, November 17, 2017, the Administration released the third supplemental emergency funding request in response to Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria, as well as the California wildfires. The White House is requesting an additional $44 billion in Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 for states impacted by the storms and fires, in addition to Federal property repairs. The Administration’s request letter, submitted by Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney, identifies five programs/activities to fund. Those programs are traditional disaster relief provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Small Business Administration (SBA); emergency agricultural assistance; educational recovery fund; funding to repair or replace damaged Federal property and equipment; and the Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery program, focused on flood mitigation projects. The Administration does not make a request on funding for any programs administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Program Request FEMA and SBA $ 25,200,000,000.00 Emergency Agriculture Assistance $ 1,000,000,000.00 Education Recovery Fund $ 1,200,000,000.00 Repair and Rehabilitation of Damaged Federal Property/Equipment $ 4,600,000,000.00 CDBG – Disaster $ 12,000,000,000.00 Total $ 44,000,000,000.00 The Administration also requests tax relief for families in areas impacted by the wildfires in California, including non-itemized deductions for casualty losses; waiving the current-law requirement that losses exceed 10 percent of adjusted gross income; penalty-free access to retirement funds; disaster-related employment relief; earned income tax credit reporting-year flexibility; and enhancement of charitable giving incentives. These provisions are similar to the tax relief provided in Public Law 115-63, the Disaster Tax Relief and Airport and Airway Extension Act of 2017, to the areas impacted by Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria. The letter also includes several other requests from the Administration, including the need to reauthorize and reform the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), suggestions of offsets, a recommendation to extend the non-defense Joint Committee mandatory sequestration resulting from the 2011 Budget Control Act (BCA), pursuant to Section 251A of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985; and additional funding for the Department of Defense (including $4 billion for missile defeat and defense enhancements to counter the threat from North Korea and $1.2 billion in support of the Administration’s South Asia strategy, as well as $1.6 billion for the boarder wall). In a separate document, the Administration outlined their suggested offsets, which total $59 billion and would largely come from extending the sequester. Many of the proposed... read more

Posted by Audrey Johnston on Oct 6, 2017 in Key Issues, Resources | 0 comments
In the past month, three major hurricanes have devastated coastal communities in Texas and Florida and virtually the entire island of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI). Damage assessments for Texas and Florida amount to over $270 billion and details are not yet known for Puerto Rico and the USVI. By contrast, total damage in the Gulf Opportunity Zone, or GoZone, established after Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma in 2005, totaled around $200 billion. Hurricane Harvey made landfall near Rockport, Texas on August 24 as a Category 4 storm. Although Harvey was downgraded to a tropical storm, it resulted in an unprecedented amount of rainfall along the Texas Gulf Coast. A State of Emergency was declared on August 25, with 39 counties qualifying for individual assistance from the Federal government (FEMA-4332-DR). Of those counties, 21 are nonmetropolitan counties. Over 835,000 Texans have registered for individual assistance, totaling over $783 million, of which $572 million is for housing assistance. Over 21,000 families checked into hotels for transitional sheltering, out of 338,000 eligible families. Total damage estimates for Texas exceed $200 billion. Less than a week after Harvey, Hurricane Irma developed in the Atlantic and struck Florida as a Category 4 storm. In Florida, a state of disaster was declared on September 10 (FEMA-4337-DR), and 48 counties were identified for individual assistance, including 14 nonmetropolitan counties. Over 1.9 million people have registered for assistance in Florida, totaling more than $668 million, of which $438 million is for housing assistance. FEMA reports that nearly 8,000 Floridian households have checked into a hotel for transitional sheltering, but that nearly 640,000 are eligible to do so. Total damage estimates from Irma, which include Florida, Puerto Rico and the USVI, exceed $50 billion. Puerto Rico, which was also struck by Hurricane Irma, suffered catastrophic damage from Hurricane Maria on September 20. A disaster declaration was made on September 20 (FEMA-4339-DR) for 54 municipalities in Puerto Rico, including six that are nonmetropolitan.[1] The extent of damage to housing has not yet been reported, but the situation on the island is reported to be dire. As September 30, only 45 percent of the population had access to drinking water, and of the 52 waste water treatment plants, just nine were operational. One of the challenges of recovery assistance is getting to hard to reach places – like small rural communities – to ascertain the extent... read more

Posted by Audrey Johnston on Jun 12, 2017 in Budget, Key Issues, Resources | 0 comments
Rural Organizations from across the country wrote to Congress, voicing opposition to the Administration’s proposal to eliminate the Under Secretary for Rural Development and funding for rural development programs. Washington, D.C.—June 12, 2017— Today, nearly 600 organizations sent a letter to Congress opposing the Administration’s proposal to eliminate the Under Secretary for Rural Development at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The letter also lamented draconian cuts to rural development programs in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 Budget request that would severely impact people from economically distressed rural communities. Signatures came from organizations located all around the country, and included community development organizations; nonprofit housing developers; state and national trade associations; farmer and agriculture cooperatives; affordable housing organizations; city governments; universities; and tribal governments. “Rural Development has a proven track record of success in providing targeted support in the form of technical assistance grants and direct financial assistance to America’s hardworking rural families,” said Bob Rapoza, executive secretary of the National Rural Housing Coalition. “Even so, rural Americans still face significant challenges to economic prosperity.” Rural communities have higher poverty rates and higher rates of unemployment when compared to big cities and suburbs. The families living in these areas also face higher incidences of substandard housing and rent overburden. In addition, over 90 percent of the water systems with a violation of the Safe Drinking Water Act are small systems with 3,300 or fewer users. The FY 2018 Budget request included substantial cuts – or complete eliminations – to almost all of the programs within the Rural Development mission area. Overall in terms of Budget Authority current Rural Development programs is cut buy $867 million or 31 percent. Specifically, the Rural Business programs and the Rural Business and Cooperative Service, as well as Rural Water and Wastewater Loans and Grants are completely eliminated. In addition, virtually every direct loan or grant program under the Rural Housing Service, including the Mutual Self-Help Housing program, the Section 502 Direct loan program, and the Section 515 Multifamily Housing Loan program, are eliminated as well. The USDA reorganization plan, announced in early May, would eliminate the Under Secretary for Rural Development – the only subcabinet position focused exclusively on assisting low-income rural and farming communities. The proposal claims that this elimination will “elevate” the Rural Development mission area by reporting directly to the USDA Secretary, however the Administration’s FY 2018 Budget request suggests... read more

Posted by Audrey Johnston on Apr 7, 2017 in Key Issues, Resources, Spotlight | 0 comments
On Tuesday, April 4, the National Rural Housing Coalition (NRHC) released its 2017 Impact Report. The report, which was funded through the generous contribution of Capital One, included the findings from the 2017 Impact Survey as well as the success stories from 23 rural housing organizations. The purpose of the Impact Report is to inform policy makers and the public of the broad economic and human impact of nonprofit housing organizations – and the programs that they utilize. The survey asked organizations to respond to seven categories, including homeownership activities, rental housing activities, and clean water and sewer activities. In addition, the survey also asked for organizations that provide housing counseling, technical assistance, or are Community Development Financial Institutions, Community Development Corporations or Intermediaries to respond on their activities. The survey analyzed data from 104 organization of their activity in Fiscal Year (FY) 2016. In FY 2016, the 104 responding nonprofit housing organizations helped low-income families and communities secure $1 billion in financing to build, purchase, preserve, or rehabilitate 6,505 units of affordable housing and improved access to rural water and sewer systems for 138,115 of families. This resulted in the creation of 13,920 jobs, over $816.43 million generated income, and $442.2 million in tax revenue. Other key findings from the report include: 84 organizations assisted 3,139 families in rural communities with rehabilitating, constructing, or purchasing their homes. Further, there were 24,104 families on the waiting lists of 26 organizations. 59 organizations helped 378 families participating in the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Mutual Self-Help Housing Program. These families contributed over $6.885 million in sweat equity by assisting each other in the construction of their homes – averaging $18,215 per family. 22 organizations developed, constructed, preserved, or rehabilitated 2,859 rental housing units. 4 organizations secured over $92 million in financing for 106 water or sewer projects for construction of new systems, repairing or replacing existing systems, consolidating systems, or addressing regulatory compliance issues and provided technical assistance on 97 projects, totaling some $64.35 million. NRHC presented the findings from the Report at a briefing on the Hill in the Capitol Visitor Center on the evening of April 4. In addition to the findings from the briefing, five organizations presented on case studies that are included in the report. Their presentations are provided below. Marty Miller, the Executive Director of the Office of Rural and Farmworker Housing in Yakima,... read more

Posted by Audrey Johnston on Feb 1, 2017 in Resources | 0 comments
Use NRHC’s Advocacy Tools to strengthen your advocacy efforts and make your voice heard on Capitol Hill. Learn how to build relationships with your Senators, Representatives, Local Media, and members of your community. Toolkits Making the Most of Congress’ Time At Home: In-District Advocacy. Learn how to best engage with your Senators and Representatives while they are at home in your district, whether by inviting them to visit your organization, meeting one-on-one, or partnering with other local organizations to host a Town Hall meeting. Local and Social Media 101. Learn how to use social media to build and sustain strong relationships with your Senators and Representatives by using local media and social media. This toolkit provides important tips on pitching news stories to your local media, publishing an op-ed, and using social media. Creating a Social Media Strategy 102. Learn how to create a social media strategy, regardless of your organization’s available resources. This toolkit was made possible through the generous support of Capital One. Webinars In-District Advocacy Webinar: Guest Speakers include Bob Rapoza and Audrey Johnston. Listen to the webinar or download a copy of the PowerPoint presentation. Local and Social Media Webinar: Guest Speakers include Ayrianne Parks, Sarah Mickelson, and NRHC Member Bailey Richards from the Housing Development Alliance. This webinar was made possible through the generous support of Capital One. Listen to the webinar or download a copy of our PowerPoint presentation. Local Case Studies To highlight local case studies, feel free to use our Self-Help Housing Template and Rural Housing Success Story Template, and use our Fact Sheets on rural housing... read more

Posted by Audrey Johnston on Oct 7, 2016 in Resources, Spotlight | 0 comments
National Rural Housing Coalition convenes leaders in Affordable Rental Housing to Discuss Ways to Stem Increasing Shortages in Rural America and Prepare Recommendations for Legislators Washington, D.C.— On October 4-5, the National Rural Housing Coalition (NRHC) convened leaders from the rural housing community to evaluate and prepare recommendations that will ensure affordable rental housing options remain available to low- and very low-income residents. The purpose of the conference, which was sponsored by PNC Bank, was to gather feedback from the community and confer on data shared by staff from U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Housing programs. Using this information, NRHC will release a detailed paper on the state of affordable rental housing in rural communities. “While there were notable investments made several decades ago for the production and maintenance of affordable, rural rental housing, that federal commitment has not kept pace with the need in recent years,” said Bob Rapoza, executive secretary of NRHC. “This is significant because USDA’s current preservation efforts do not appear to be enough to sustain its rental housing portfolio, which is essential to providing clean, decent, and affordable housing for low-income residents in Rural America.” USDA rental housing is frequently the only affordable rental housing available in rural communities. The average income for tenants is $12,729 annually, many (around 44 percent) are elderly or persons with disabilities and 70.9 percent are female headed households. USDA estimates that $5.596 billion in additional funding is needed over the next 20 years to preserve USDA’s rental housing portfolio. Renovation of these developments is particularly important because USDA no longer provides loans for the financing of new rental housing developments in rural America. In addition, there is a rising tide of USDA mortgages coming to the end of their terms. When a USDA mortgage ends—whether it is due to prepayment or mortgage maturity—the property loses rental assistance eligibility, which provides a deep subsidy to very low income households. As a result, an increasing number of very low-income households left with few or no alternatives for affordable, decent housing options. While the need for renovation and refinancing of the USDA multifamily housing portfolio is great, several organizations have taken advantage of opportunities to acquire, improve the quality of and maintain the affordability of these properties. By working with USDA and state housing finance agencies, as well as combining multiple sources of public and private funds, housing advocates like... read more